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No no-hitter for Lester in Cubs loss

The Cubs love Wrigley Field. Cubs fans love Wrigley Field.

But until winter decides to leave and summer gets here, the Cubs may be glad to hit the road for a while.

"The wind's not going to be blowing in," said manager Joe Maddon after Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley, where the temperature was 45 degrees and the wind was blowing in off Lake Michigan at 11 mph. "That'll be the biggest difference. I love playing at Wrigley. We all love playing here. But it's nice to get away for a little bit and then come back to it."

No doubt the Cubs have taken care of business at the Friendly Confines. They finished this 10-game homestand with a record of 7-3, and they're 14-6 at home for the season.

After an off-day Monday, they'll take off on a three-city trip to Milwaukee, San Francisco and St. Louis.

Really, there wasn't much to complain about Sunday. The 40,814 fans in attendance witnessed a good pitchers duel between Cubs left-hander Jon Lester and the Pirates' Gerrit Cole.

Suspense hung in the chilly air as Lester took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Starling Marte singled to right field with one out. After Lester struck out Francisco Cervelli, Jung Ho Kang doubled to the gap in right-center to break a scoreless tie.

Kang added an important insurance run in the ninth with a home run off reliever Hector Rondon. The Cubs came up with a run in the bottom of the ninth, but Ben Zobrist grounded out after battling Pirates closer Mark Melancon. That enabled the Pirates to come away with their first victory over the Cubs in six games this year.

As for Lester's no-hit bit, he said it would have been hard not to know what was going on. In addition to keeping the Pirates hitless until the seventh, he was running up his pitch count. He entered the seventh with 91 and left after Kang's double having thrown 109 for the game.

"It's hard not to notice," said Lester, who fell to 4-2 with a 1.88 ERA. "We got two giant scoreboards out there that kind of display everything. As far as both ends of the question, you got giant numbers out there telling you where your pitch count's at. You got a giant scoreboard telling you you haven't given up any hits. It really doesn't matter now."

The Pirates (19-17) desperately needed a good outing from Cole against the Cubs (27-9), and they got it. He worked 8 scoreless innings, giving up 3 hits.

Even though the Cubs are 8 games ahead of the Pirates in the National League Central, Cole seemed to be conceding nothing.

"It was just an opportunity to try to salvage the series," he said. "I don't really think they're the best team in baseball."

Time will tell on that one. Meanwhile, the Cubs will hope the ivy is in full bloom and the temperatures are more springlike when they return for the long Memorial Day weekend.

"Happy to be playing baseball," said right fielder Jason Heyward. "We've got a fun group. We've got to take care of business in Milwaukee. We get a dome there, so regardless of the weather, we'll be inside. We're going to play some good teams that play well in their ballparks, so it will be a lot of fun for us."

• Follow Bruce's Cubs and baseball reports on Twitter @BruceMiles2112.

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